“We’ll start by laying out our expectations for the position,” Nathan continued. “And then you guys can hit us with your questions.”
A knock sounded at the door, then Nadine reentered the room, looking flustered. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but a woman named Hannah Young just came in. She says she made an appointment for ten-thirty with Lindsay. She’s very adamant about not being able to wait.”
It was twenty minutes to eleven now. Kate looked at Lindsay, who was shaking her head.
“I can’t believe I forgot…” She put a hand to her chin, and her brow furrowed as she thought. A smile slowly appeared on her face. “Actually, this could be a good thing.”
“What are you thinking?” Nathan asked. “I know that look and it makes me nervous.”
“I’ve had the most brilliant idea. Nadine, tell Hannah I’ll be right out to talk to her.”
“What?” Nathan asked. “You’re just going to keep us all waiting in here?”
“Not for long. On the phone Hannah told me that her budget is very tight. I may have come up with a solution to everyone’s problems.”
THE CONFERENCE ROOM FELL uncomfortably silent, as if Lindsay had sucked out all the energy when she left the room. Kate knew Lindsay well enough to be apprehensive about this “brilliant” idea of hers. She could tell Nathan and Jay felt the same way as they exchanged nervous glances.
“She hasn’t changed, has she?” Kate asked.
“God help us all, no,” Nathan agreed. He reached across the table and snagged the form Kate had recently filled out. Her job application seemed to absorb his attention, leaving Kate and Jay with little to look at but each other since there were no windows in the room and the only art on the walls were those pictures of paper clips.
Jay smiled. He had a really warm smile. And his eyes were the darkest blue she had ever seen. He wouldn’t need to ask witnesses a single question, Kate thought. They would just talk.
She blinked, thinking of another man’s smile, and all that it had been hiding. “So you’re a pilot?”
“I am.”
He was her competition. She might as well get to know him. “What do you fly?”
“Most recently Boeing 777s. But I’ve retired.”
“So you want to shift from flying planes to private investigating?”
He nodded, as if it were the most usual career path anyone could imagine. “And I hear you used to work for the NYPD?”
“That’s right.” He had to realize how unmatched their qualifications were, but he didn’t look worried in the least.
She had to admit, the guy had balls.
Lindsay flew back into the room then, with a young woman in tow.
“I’d like you to meet Hannah Young.” Lindsay made her way around the room with introductions, then pulled out a chair for Hannah.
Kate took careful stock of the new client, who looked to be in her mid-twenties. Hannah was an attractive woman, dressed in a cheaply tailored skirt and blazer. She was a little hesitant about making eye contact, but her smile was pleasant. Her jewelry was silver—modest studs in her ears and a collection of rings on various fingers. The one on her wedding finger had a tiny diamond.
“Hannah and her husband are hoping to start a family,” Lindsay began. She kept talking, but suddenly Kate couldn’t focus.
Hannah was at least five years younger than she was, and here she was, married and about to have babies. Kate couldn’t help but feel a deep, illogical jealousy.
If her relationship with Conner had worked out, if he had been the man she’d thought he was, she would have been in Hannah’s position soon. Trying to get pregnant. Planning her maternity leave.
Now her dream of children seemed totally out of reach. She’d always thought she would have her first baby at thirty and she was already thirty-two.
Worst of all, the very idea of dating someone new was enough to make her ill.
“So what do you think?” Hannah asked. “Can your firm help us?”
To her dismay, Kate realized she’d lost focus and had no clue what the client wanted from Fox & Fisher. Fortunately Lindsay stepped in with an answer that summarized the client’s needs.
“You want us to find your biological father so you can make sure there are no genetic problems in your family tree before you try to have a baby. No problem. We’ve handled this sort of case many times, haven’t we, Nathan?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I assume you’ve never tried to find your real parents?”
“No. As far as I’m concerned, I already have real parents. My mom and dad are wonderful and if it wasn’t for Jeremy and his worries, I probably would never have been interested in tracing my biological mother and father.”
“Where is your husband right now?” Kate asked. If he was so concerned about his future baby’s DNA, then why wasn’t he at this meeting?
“He wanted to come,” Hannah said, as if reading her mind, “except his boss is a real jerk about giving time off.”
“What do you have to go on?” Kate asked. “Are your biological parents listed on your birth certificate? Have your adoptive parents given you the name of the adoption agency they used?”
Hannah seemed overwhelmed by the questions. She turned to Lindsay, who answered for her.
“Hannah’s already located her birth mother. They’ve met and everything checked out fine with that side of the family. The problem is locating the father.”
“My birth mom got pregnant in her first term at college. Her parents had been really strict and as soon as she was out of the house, she went kind of wild.” Hannah opened the big leather bag she’d been carrying and pulled out a yearbook from New England College. There were three yellow markers in the book and Hannah flipped pages to the first one.
“James Morgan was a guy Mom met during frosh week. He was studying business. She thinks.”
She flipped to the next yellow tab. “Gary Gifford was on the football team, and finally…” She flipped more pages, to the last picture, a slight boy with protruding ears. “Oliver Crane was in her English 101 class. My real dad could be any one of these guys.”
Three possibilities. Okay. “I’m assuming your mother didn’t keep in touch with any of them?”
“No. She didn’t see the point because she wasn’t keeping the baby. Plus she was worried one of them would try to talk her out of her decision. Which wasn’t very likely if you ask me. I mean, imagine you’re a young guy in his first year of college. If you made a girl pregnant after a one-night stand, wouldn’t you appreciate it if she handled the problem on her own?”
It wasn’t fair, Kate thought, but Hannah was probably right.
“So—” Lindsay patted the yearbook “—we know where these guys were twenty-four years ago, but after that—nada. We’re starting from scratch. First we need to locate these three men, then convince them to let us test their DNA for a match to Hannah’s.”
“We could get lucky and get a match on the first try,” Nathan said. “Or, we could end up spending weeks and weeks on this.”
“Which would add up to a bill that Hannah and Jeremy just can’t afford,” Lindsay said.
“We need to save our money for the baby.” Hannah tugged on her earlobe anxiously. “But there won’t be a baby until we’re sure there aren’t any genetic problems in my family tree.”
“Here’s the deal.” Lindsay flattened her hands on the table and leaned forward. “I told Hannah we’d take the case pro bono, if she’d let us assign two novice investigators to the file.”
Kate’s interest shifted up a notch. “I’m assuming you mean Jay and me?”
Lindsay nodded.
Kate strongly objected to being called a “novice investigator,” but for the moment she opted to keep quiet. Though she’d initially expected to be handed this job on a silver platter, now that she’d met the competition, the prospect of proving her skills on a specific case was intriguing.
“Pro bono, huh? That’s a very generous offer.” N
athan spoke quietly to his partner. “Are you sure you’ve thought this through?”
“You haven’t heard the whole plan yet,” Lindsay continued. “Before Hannah arrived, we were at an impasse. You wanted to hire Jay and I wanted to hire Kate. My idea is to have both of them work independently on this. The first one to locate Hannah’s biological father will, by definition, be the best investigator. That’s the person who will get the job.”
CHAPTER THREE
IT WAS AN OUTRAGEOUS proposition. But also…intriguing. There were few things Jay enjoyed more than healthy competition. Basketball and squash were his usual sports, but this sounded interesting. True, he didn’t have Kate’s training, but he was nothing if not resourceful.
If he found Hannah’s father and got the job, there’d be classes to take, a license to acquire. Nathan had assured him that none of this would be too onerous. Before he knew it, he’d be launched in his second career.
Jay checked out Kate from across the table. She gave him a small smile, her eyes sharp and confident. Then she raised her eyebrows and cocked her head slightly.
The challenge was obvious—she didn’t think he had a chance. And every nerve in his body ached to prove her wrong.
“This plan sounds crazy to me,” Nathan said. “But if Hannah, Kate and Jay all agree, then I have no objection. Hannah, are you sure you want to turn the search for your father into a competition?”
“If it means I don’t have to pay anything, then yeah. You bet I do. I really want a baby and as long as I can tell Jeremy who my real dad is, I don’t care who finds him.”
“Okay,” Nathan said. “The client agrees. How about you, Kate?”
She was still looking at Jay, with gray-green eyes that seemed to say, Back out now and preserve your dignity.
She raised her chin an inch higher. “I’m game.”
Now everyone turned to him. He thought about what he had to lose. Not much, except his pride. Then he thought of what he could gain.
Nathan had been his friend since high school. Jay knew the guy had integrity and smarts. Lindsay seemed his polar opposite in many respects, but he could tell she had the same sense of honor, the same drive to make the world a better place.
If he couldn’t fly planes anymore for a living, surely this was as good a place to land as any. Plus it would be fun to wipe that cocky expression from Kate Cooper’s face.
He glanced around the room one more time, prolonging the moment of tension.
“I’m in.”
Hannah clapped her hands together. “Thank you so much. I never dreamed that it would be this easy.”
“We haven’t found your father yet,” Lindsay cautioned. She glanced at Kate, then smiled. “Though I’m sure it won’t take very long.”
She had a lot of confidence in her friend. Jay supposed it was to be expected. Meanwhile Nathan gave him a nod of encouragement which he appreciated.
“We’ll be in touch with interim reports on Kate’s and Jay’s progress,” Lindsay promised as she ushered Hannah to the door. She called Nadine and asked her to walk their new client through the usual paperwork.
“Plus, we’ll need three DNA samples from her, Nadine. You know where we keep the kits…?”
Nadine must have answered in the affirmative, because Lindsay said, “Good. I’ll leave you to it, then.” She returned to the conference room, closing the door again.
“Well.” She beamed at Nathan, her expression bordering on smug. “Was that a brilliant idea or what?”
Nathan shook his head. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, frankly.” But from the warmth in his voice, it was clear how he felt about Lindsay. He adored her. Jay could understand why. Lindsay was a dynamo. All passion and energy.
Her friend Kate, on the other hand, kept her emotions carefully contained. She seemed analytical and calculating and somewhat aloof. She was going to make a formidable opponent.
Also, a very beautiful one.
“The investigation will officially start tomorrow morning.” Lindsay turned from Kate to Jay. “I’ll have Nadine prepare a report for each of you containing all the information we have to date. Where you decide to start is completely up to you. Fair enough?”
“Absolutely,” Jay said.
“Where will we work when we’re not in the field?” Kate asked.
“We only have one empty office,” Nathan said. “I guess you’ll have to share. We can bring in an extra desk and chair, but there’s just one computer.”
“No problem. I have a laptop.” Jay stood and offered Kate his hand. “Good luck.”
She hesitated, then stood as well and accepted his hand. “May the best investigator win.”
No doubt she thought she would be the one. But she was in for a few surprises where he was concerned.
WITH THE MEETING CONCLUDED, Lindsay suggested to Kate that they go for a drink.
“That sounds good.” Kate wasn’t in a hurry to return to her empty apartment. She was going to have to get a cat, she decided, since she was no longer interested in men.
Lindsay led the way to a tired tavern just down the block. The Stool Pigeon was a knockoff on the traditional English pub concept, with a vague nod to Tudor architecture and an array of flea market atrocities displayed on shelves just out of dusting range.
A boisterous group in their twenties was sitting at the tables near the windows, and a dark brooding man presided over the three older male customers at the large oak bar. Brown vinyl booths at the back were all empty and that was where Lindsay led her.
“Nice place,” Kate said, grimacing as she slid into the booth and her hand came in contact with something sticky.
“Cozy, isn’t it? I come here all the time. This is Wendy.”
Since she had her back to the kitchen, Kate hadn’t noticed the female server approaching. The woman, in her mid-forties, seemed to have weathered about as well as the place where she worked.
“Wendy and Mark own this place,” Lindsay explained.
“Lucky us,” Wendy said drily. “I assume you want your usual?” When Lindsay nodded, she turned to Kate. “And you?”
“I’ll have an orange juice with lots of ice.” Hopefully the vitamin C would help ward off the cold she felt coming on.
“And fries,” Lindsay added. “We’ll share.”
When the server returned a short time later, Kate was surprised to see that she’d brought Lindsay a paralyzer.
“You still drink those? How does your stomach tolerate them?” Once, when she and Lindsay had gone for a drink after a rough shift, she’d ordered one. A single swallow had been enough for her. She’d been shocked to find out what was in the drink. A motley mixture of liqueurs, cream and cola.
“My system runs on paralyzers,” Lindsay assured her.
“So how are things with Nathan? They seem good.”
“Better than good. I’ve never been happier.”
“You look happy.” Kate was sincerely glad for her friend.
“Thanks. I wish I could say the same to you. Tell me about Conner. What was his problem? Didn’t he know how lucky he was to have you?”
“Thanks, Lindsay.” Kate felt tears well up at her friend’s kindness. “In some ways I’ve decided that it’s a good thing that we broke up—though I would have wished for a more civilized finale.”
“Sometimes a good drama is the only way to go. I’m glad you gave him a piece of your mind.”
“I guess. But I’ve come to realize over the last few days I wasn’t as much in love with Conner as I thought I was.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I hate to admit this, but I think I just latched on to him because I was at the point where I wanted to get married.”
“Why so keen to get married?”
“Babies. Ever since I turned thirty that’s all I think about. Everywhere I go, I see them. Did you notice that woman with the stroller on our way here?”
“Yeah, but this is the Upper West Side. There are kids everywhe
re. I never knew you were so keen to have children.”
“I’ve always wanted a big family as well as a challenging career,” Kate confessed. “Not just one or two children. More like three or four.”
“Wow…I guess you’ll have to start dating, then.”
Kate made a face. “Forget it. I’ve had enough of men for a while.”
“So what are you thinking? You want to be a single mother?”
“Maybe. I’ve been considering it. What do you think? Am I crazy?” She picked up a fry and stared at it without any appetite.
“No, not crazy. But it’s a serious step. Don’t do anything rash.” Lindsay ate another fry. “Anyway, I’m so glad you’re here. I promise you’ll be happy at our agency. The work is varied and interesting and you’ll have so much more freedom than you did working for the NYPD.”
“That’s assuming I find Hannah’s father first and get the job,” Kate reminded her.
“Jay doesn’t stand a chance of solving this case faster than you.”
Kate had already told herself the same thing. But Jay Savage struck her as the sort of guy who wasn’t used to losing. She had to make sure that, this time, he did.
THE NEXT MORNING Kate arrived at the agency bright and early. She forced herself to get out of bed, even though she’d had a restless night, thanks to that tickle at the back of her throat. No matter how many vitamins she popped or how much orange juice she drank, it would not go away.
She bumped into Nadine, who was unlocking the main door. The young receptionist gave her a welcoming smile. “Lindsay and Nathan don’t usually come in until nine. You must be an early bird.”
“When I need to be.” Kate didn’t care when Lindsay and Nathan arrived for work, but she sure hoped that Jay wouldn’t be in for a while.
Nadine gave her a closer look. “Do you have a cold? There’s a mean one going around. I had it last week and it was terrible.”
“Just a tickle in my throat.” She had no time to get sick, and so she wouldn’t. Mind over matter. “Did Lindsay leave anything for me?”
“Yes. She asked me to prepare two files—one for you and one for Jay.” Nadine unlocked the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out a folder which she handed to Kate. “I’m guessing you’d like to get straight to work. The office you’re sharing with Jay is opposite the conference room. Call me if you need anything. And if you’re a coffee drinker, I’ll have a fresh pot ready in ten minutes.”
The P.I. Contest Page 3